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Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Students face risk on road
By Charmaine Y. Rodriguez
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
ONE of every four pupils from Cebu City’s Zapatera Elementary School has been hit by a vehicle.
Of those hit, more than half suffered physical injuries, a nongovernment organization working for the protection of children reported yesterday.
With these figures, Dr. Rafael Consunji of Safe Kids (SK) Philippines expressed concern yesterday that the children still take it for granted they were safe walking to and from school every day.
“We have to do something about this,” he told a press conference during the launch of the Walk This Way program of SK and FedEx in Cebu City.
Walkability checks
Cebu City Task Force on Street Children chairperson Margot Osmeña thanked the sponsors for bringing the project to Cebu, saying she believes it will strengthen the City Government’s programs for children.
Walk This Way aims to educate schoolchildren on road safety, conduct “walkability checks” in public school zones and set up road safety equipment near schools.
Osmeña called on volunteers to join trainings to help educate the school children.
“They may call Reden at 414-9004 or 255-7937 at the Parian Drop-in Center,” she said during the press conference at the Cebu City Marriott Hotel yesterday.
She also said the center’s street teachers and the members of the Barangay Council for the Protection of Children and community-based nongovernment organizations may be tapped to support the program.
Barangay tanods will also assist children in crossing the streets.
Dr. Maribel Du, Cebu-Eastern Visayas governor of the Philippine College of Surgeons (PCS), said the group and the Philippine College of Pediatric Surgeons will also actively support the campaign.
“There is really a big need for education,” she said.
Consunji is thankful for the support of the PCS in the project, which aims to address the number one killer of children in the country.
PCS, he added, plans to come up with a trauma registry so the SK plans to collect more data and focus on pedestrians and home safety.
Safety
According to a survey of hospitals in SK’s three pilot areas—Pasay, Parañaque and Olongapo—56 percent of the children were injured on the road and 98.5 percent of them were pedestrians, who were hit mostly by bicycles, tricycles and motorcycles.
According to estimates, 35,000 Filipino children die or are injured every year.
Clifton Chua, FedEx Philippines, Thailand and Indochina managing director, urged all sectors to take a “proactive stance in addressing” the issue.
“We, as a community, have a very vital role to play in ensuring that our children, our most precious resource, have a safe, walkable environment in their own neighborhoods, homes and schools,” he said yesterday.
The campaign will begin in Zapatera and 10 other schools, including the ones in Mabolo and Lahug.
When asked if the project will mean the demolition of structures or vendors’ stalls that encroach on sidewalks, Consunji said they will have to get the feedback of teachers, parents and the children so they could address specific needs.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 21, 2006 issue)
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